Stiffening-strip and mode of producing th e sam e



(No Model.)

B. K. WARREN.

STIFFENING STRIP AND MODE 0F PRODUCING THE SAME. No. 311,621. Patented Feb. 3, 188 5.

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EDWARD K. WARREN, OF THREE OAKS, MICHIGAN.

STlFFENlNG-STRIP AND MODE OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

SEECIFICA-IION forming part of Letters Eatent No. 311,621, dated February 3, 1885.

Application filed April 525, 1884.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, EDWARD K. WARREN, residing at Three Oaks, in the county of Berrien and State of Michigan, and a citizen of the United States, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in stiffening-Strips and Mode of Producing the Same, of which the following is a full description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a section of a single strand; Fig. 2, a section of a completed strip; Fig. 3, a section of a wound strip, and Fig. 4. a crosssection.

The object of this invention is to produce an improved article of manufacture by the use ofthe enamel or quill portion of feathers in the flat form, and to so secure the parts to: gether that they will not become separated in use ,by the unraveling of the covering or by the breaking or wearing through of the covering; and its nature consists in first forming strands of this material, then placing the strands side by side, and then covering them by cross-winding andstitching between the seams, as is hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, a indicates thestrand; b 0, covering threads or parts, and d the stitchinglines.

This invention is an improvement upon that secured to me by Letters Patent N 0. 286,749, and the separate construction of the strands as is there shown and describedthat is to say, I take the enamal or quill portion of feathers, which has heretofore been waste material, and split or separate the same into fine strips or fibers, which strips may include a portion or all of the quill part of the feathers, as may be desired. These are wound by a covering of thread, small cord, or wire, in a round lorm, as shown in my former patent. I take two or more of these strands (four being shown) and place them side by side, and unite them by an additional winding, 1) c, which in its best form is made by cross-windingthat is, winding the thrrad or wire I) in one direction and the thread or wire 0 in an opposite direction, somewhat after the manner, but without the interlacing, of braiding; but these threads may have the braiding interlacing,if desired. This covering is applied by suitable machinery for that purpose, and after the covering has been applied, or during (No model.)

the process of its application, I stitch the covering along and between each of these strands with a lock-stitch, so as to firmly interlock the more rapidly, and I propose hereafter to con-- strnct machinery for such purpose.

By this method of proceeding I produce a firm fiat strip of this material, which I have termed feather-bone, which can be formed into uniform lengths or into any desired length, and which is adapted to be used in nearly all of the places where whalebone has heretofore been used, and is also adapted to additional uses. It is flexible, strong, dun able, and less liable to break than whalebone, and is much more elastic, flexible, and durable than the whalebone or materials which have heretofore been used as substitutes for whaleb0nesuch as strips of brass. steel, cord, and tampico,or other similar articles. This completed article can be cut without raveling or injury to the fiber of the strands at any point along its length, and it is for this reason especially adapted to be made in rolls or lengths for the trade.

YVh-at I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows 1. As an improved article of manufacture, the fiat strip composed of two or more strands of feather bone cord, made from the enamel or quill portions of feathers, said strands lying side by side and being secured together by cross-winding threads and threads passing lengthwise between the strands and through the braid, substantially as specified.

2. The method of forming flat strips composed of previously wound strands, consisting in cross-winding two or more strands placed side by side, substantially as described, wit-h binding-threads to form a flat strip. and afterward stitching through and through the strip length wise thereofand between all of the strands, substantially as described.

EDNVARD K. WARREN.

Witnesses:

O. W. BOND, ALBERT H. ADAMS. 

